WWE Raw opened with the hardcore legend Mick Foley. He was originally there to promote the 1000th Raw, but was informed by the board of directors that former general managers will be taking control of Raw and SmackDown until they could come up with a permanent one.

John Laurinaitis then made his way out, to declare that he made the main event last night before being fired. The main event would be John Cena vs. the Big Show, David Otunga and himself.

I absolutely love the idea of former general managers returning to run things. Fans could see Teddy Long, William Regal and even the laptop return because of this.

It’s a good way to hype the 1000th Raw as well.

I’m kind of confused by the main event. Laurinaitis made the match before he was fired, but if Big Show won the match, John Cena would have been fired and thus the match wouldn’t be able to happen. So, I guess Big Johnny expected Big Show to lose.

A little hole in continuity, but that happens all the time in wrestling so I can’t really complain.

CM Punk and Sheamus vs. Kane and Daniel Bryan

The champions picked up the victory after A.J. skipped around the ring dressed as Kane, which resulted in the Big Red Monster getting distracted and a GTS and Brogue Kick for Bryan.

This was a good match that featured some nice action throughout. It wasn’t as good as the tag-team match on SmackDown last week, but it was still a good one to watch.

All four men performed well here, and the WWE Championship storyline was advanced nicely.

I’ve said it before and will say it again; I love everything that A.J. is doing. Whoever is writing this storyline is a pure genius.

As soon as she came out, I was reminded of Harley Quinn from the Batman comics, and having her music play while she skipped around the ring was a nice touch as well.

I don’t like what’s happening to Kane, though. He spent the last six or seven months saying that he hated how he had gone soft and that he was back to being a monster. What is he doing now? Well, he certainly isn’t the Big Red Monster.

I really hope that this is going somewhere positive in terms of Kane.

A.J. can keep doing what she’s doing, though. She continues to be one of the highlights of both Raw and SmackDown.

Backstage, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger are arguing. That brought in Vickie Guerrero, who would declare that she was sick of it. Foley then booked them both in a match, with the winner gaining her affection.

I am quite thankful that they are finally breaking up this team. Swagger has really been dragging Ziggler down and his match with Sheamus at No Way Out was proof of that. With no Swagger to get involved, Ziggler proved to be a main event-caliber star.

Staying backstage, John Laurinaitis and David Otunga are making fun of Mick Foley when the Big Show walks in. He wanted to know what was funny, and Big Johnny declared that everything that happens to Cena later on was funny. Big Show said nothing was funny and walked out.

I smell the Big Show knocking out Big Johnny, or at the very least walking out on him and Otunga during the match. Either way, I think the Big Show will be better off as a monster on his own instead of a monster with corporate backing.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger

Ziggler picked up the victory with the ZigZag in what was a good match. The two of them performed well and the injury to Ziggler’s knee, whether real or a part of the match, gave Swagger the chance to shine for once.

Swagger doesn’t get much of a chance to shine these days, but the constant attacking of Ziggler’s leg allowed him to do that.

Even though I’m glad Ziggler won the match, I was kind of hoping that Swagger would win. I say that because I don’t want Ziggler to have Vickie Guerrero in his corner anymore.

They’ve been together for awhile now, and she really hasn’t done anything for his career. She may have managed him to a few titles, but she takes all of the heat away from him and brings it to herself.

The fans seem to love him now, so I guess that doesn’t necessarily matter, but I would prefer to see Ziggler go out on his own. Swagger is the one that could use someone in his corner, especially on the mic.

Paul Heyman then made his way to the ring. He stated that the lawsuits would not be dropped and that Brock Lesnar has denied Triple H’s challenge for a match at SummerSlam.

That brought out Triple H, who took a shot at ECW and told Heyman that if Lesnar didn’t say “yes” then he’d go down in history as the guy that was afraid of Triple H.

The former head of ECW then told the Game that he wasn’t a wrestler anymore, and for him to go back to his office and his kids. After the lawsuits, he and Lesnar would own WWE. Triple H wouldn’t have a spot, but Stephanie McMahon would.

The Game then grabbed Heyman, to which Heyman told him that Triple H had made his match in him. The Cerebral Assassin then knocked him out.

I enjoyed this segment, though it was mostly thanks to Paul Heyman. Triple H was his usual boring self, but he had his moments here. Those included saying that Lesnar was afraid and knocking out Heyman.

The former ECW head was the star here, though. Back in the Land of Extreme, Paul Heyman was a master on the mic. When he spoke, you shut up and listened to what he had to say.

Years later, and Heyman is still a master on the stick. He can still talk like he was still the leader of the rebellious ECW, and his facial expressions are priceless during his promos.

If it wasn’t for him, this segment would have been a total dud.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Santino Marella

After Santino got in a few bits of offense, Del Rio slapped on the cross armbreaker and the United States champion quickly tapped out. Post-match, Ricardo Rodriguez got some revenge by attacking Santino’s arm a bit more.

With Del Rio back, I’m hoping that this match is a sign that he’ll be out of the main event for awhile. I want this match to be more than just revenge for Rodriguez.

I want this to develop into a feud, resulting in Del Rio winning the United States Championship.

Santino is a pure comedy character. The man is talented inside the ring and has proven that before, but he’s rarely given the chance to shine in favor of something like a Tuxedo Match.

He has no business holding a title with a rich history which includes reigns from Harley Race, Ric Flair, Blackjack Mulligan, Eddie Guerrero and many more.

Del Rio could help bring some prestige back to the belt and bring some major heat to himself. A Mexican aristocrat as the United States champion? It screams top heel to me!

Layla then appeared in the ring and introduced Cyndi Lauper and Wendi Richter to help celebrate the upcoming 1000th Raw. They reminisced on the first WrestleMania and that brought out Heath Slater.

He told Lauper that he was a “one man rock band” and began to sing. He was interrupted by Rowdy Roddy Piper, though, who just ignored Slater.

He declared that it was the Rock N Wrestling Connection that helped launch WWE and handed her a gold record to replace the one he broke over the late Captain Lou Albano’s head all those years ago.

Slater said that no one cared and began to sing again. Piper then poked him in the eye and Lauper smashed the record over his head.

I may have been one-year old at the time of the Rock N Wrestling Connection, but I recognize what it did to the business and the impact that it had. Lauper and Richter had nothing to do with Raw, though, so I don’t see how they could help celebrate the show.

Piper makes sense, but the other two don’t.

I have a feeling that Slater will be the man to get beat up and/or embarrassed by the legends and returning stars leading up to the big episode. He was squashed by Vader last week, and embarrassed by Piper and Lauper this week. As long as he doesn’t sing anymore, I’m fine with what happens because at least he’s getting television time.

Primo and Epico vs. the Primetime Players

The Colon cousins picked up the victory via count-out, after A.W. walked out of the match with his team.

After No Way Out, I was hoping that the tag division was getting back on track. The match at the PPV was very good and gave me so much hope. Then this match happened, and set things back a few more steps.

Both teams are talented and if given the time, they could have had a good match.

John Laurinaitis then appeared in the ring and stated that John Cena cheated at the PPV. He and Big Show weren’t losers because the WWE Universe were the losers. The next time we’d see him was at his Hall of Fame induction.

He then introduced his partners, but there was a problem. Big Show grabbed a mic and complained about losing while also thanking Big Johnny for the contract and the money.

He was moving on to bigger things, though, and saw no reason to wrestle this match.

I had a feeling that Big Show was going to turn his back on Johnny Ace in some way.

Laurinaitis was his usual self on the mic, boring yet entertaining. A part of me is actually going to miss his promos each week.

John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis and David Otunga

After Otunga beat down Cena and Laurinaitis failed to pin him, Otunga walked out on Big Johnny. Earlier in the match, Laurinaitis refused to tag into the match so I guess that was Otunga’s way of saying, “You’re not my boss anymore.”

Cena then delivered three Attitude Adjustments and the STF for the win.

This was match was pretty predictable, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a good laugh out of Cena destroying Laurinaitis.

It was entertaining to see everyone that had backed him just turn on him. Big Show and Otunga walked out of the match, Michael Cole began to praise Teddy Long when he came out for commentary, and Eve was nowhere in sight.

Big Johnny’s world came crashing down in the span of 24 hours. I have a feeling that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of him, though.

Overall, I thought this episode of Monday Night Raw was a decent one. The first hour of the show was really good.

After the Paul Heyman/Triple H segment, though, everything started to go downhill.

Raw is supposed to feature the fallout of No Way Out, but where was Christian? Actually, where was the mid-card?

WWE only focused on the big storylines, but it would have been nice to see more followed up on, especially with another PPV only a little over three weeks away.